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Posted January 8, 2013 05:53 pm

The Editor's Desk: First look at economic development ordinance; Recommended Viewing

Because this is being written prior to Tuesday’s Athens-Clarke County mayor and commission work session, it won’t include any comments on the commission’s reaction, if any, to a proposed ordinance that would establish a Department of Economic Development within the county government. Commissioners could vote on the ordinance as early as next month.

There are, though, it seems to me, already at least a couple of observations to be made about the proposed ordinance, the full text of which is available at Athens Banner-Herald government reporter Nick Coltrain’s blog at OnlineAthens.com, at http://bit.ly/13ewAzQ.

During my first pass through the ordinance, I noted that it seems to be almost exclusively focused on what I’ll call, for lack of a better term, “big D development,” with the department geared toward attracting and accommodating large employers like the Caterpillar plant that the community snagged last year in cooperation with neighboring Oconee County.

About the only nod I saw to smaller-scale economic development was a call in the ordinance for the economic development department to “(c)oordinate with the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of supporting the Chamber’s efforts for development and retention of local entrepreneurial commercial businesses ... .”

Now, like a lot of other folks I’ve talked with, I think there’s some reason to be concerned that the county commission, at least as currently constituted, might be a bit too eagerly committed to smaller-scale economic development. To the extent that it exists, that commitment fails, I think, to recognize that a primary goal of local economic development should be to bring a large number of jobs into the community.

On the other hand, to the extent that a county economic development department fails to recognize the need to cultivate and assist local entrepreneurial efforts, it will undoubtedly miss opportunities to help establish a wide variety of enterprises contributing to the overall health of the local economy.

Anyway, I’m sure this won’t be the last time I write about the proposed ordinance, and I invite you to weigh in at OnlineAthens.com, or with a letter to the editor, which you can email to jim.thompson@onlineathens.com.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: As a lapsed Catholic, I don’t necessarily have any standing to comment, or any interest in commenting, on whether the church should ordain women as priests.

I do, though, want to share something from the Women’s Ordination Conference, a long-standing group working to see women ordained as Catholic priests. A few days ago, the group posted a YouTube video that I’m passing along here as a reminder that activism, in whatever arena, need not be the humorless enterprise that I’ve often seen it become here in Athens.

The video features a group of women — and a few men — some in priestly garb, dancing to lyrics written to the tune of the wildly popular Carly Rae Jepsen song “Call Me Maybe.” Here are the words to the chorus: “Hey, I was baptized, and this is crazy,/ But God just called me, so ordain a lady!/ Justice doesn’t look right, with only male priests,/ But God just called me, so ordain a lady!”

You can find the video online at http://bit.ly/WYespj. And again, I’m not staking out a position here on the ordination of women as Catholic priests. I’m just saying that sometimes, having a sense of humor can be a particularly effective way of making a serious point.

And, yeah, I’m sorry about the earworm.

TWITTER: I’m @Jim__Thompson, OK?

The Editor's Desk: First look at economic development ordinance; Recommended Viewing